The instant invention relates to doors for wood burning stoves and the like and more particularly to glass panelled doors.
As a result of recent shortages in supplies in the world's oil markets and the rather drastic accompanying increases in oil prices many people have been turning to alternate energy sources to heat their homes. One of the most abundant alternate energy sources readily available is wood and consequently people are installing wood burning stoves in their homes in increasing numbers.
Wood burning stoves may not be as aesthetically desirable as fireplaces, but they are vastly more efficient than fireplaces for producing heat from wood, and as a result many people have foregone the use of their fireplaces to install wood burning stoves. Airtight wood burning stoves are generally the most efficient stoves available since they allow a user to control the amount of oxygen or air available to the fire to thereby control the combustion within the stove. Unfortunately, to properly effect the air-tight characteristics of stoves of this nature, the stoves must be fairly well sealed and cannot have openings for viewing the fire; and, as a result, they may not be as aesthetically attractive as other types of stoves, such as Franklin stoves and the like. The instant invention overcomes this drawback by providing glass panelled doors for use in air-tight stoves. While the use of glass panelled doors on air-tight stoves is not entirely new, the instant invention nevertheless represents a substantial improvement in the art by providing convertible stove doors with interchangeable opaque and transparent panels. Depending on the particular stove application, the opaque panels or the somewhat more expensive transparent panels are alternatively secured to the inner sides of the doors to selectively provide for non-viewing or viewing of the flame within the stove. When the transparent panels are secured to the doors, the full aesthetic beauty of the flame within the stove may be appreciated by those in the surrounding area and in addition the burning characteristics of the flame may be easily checked without opening the doors. On the other hand, there will be some stove applications where the opaque door panels will be preferable. This would obviously be the case, for example, in certain commercial applications where the added expense of transparent panels wouldn't be justifiable or where the user simply would not wish to take the time to frequently clean the transparent panels.
There are also certain obvious advantages from a manufacturing standpoint in providing a stove door which is adaptable for various applications. It is certainly more efficient and more economical to manufacture and distribute a stove door that is universally adaptable for various applications than it is to manufacture and distribute two separate and distinct types of doors, and therefore, the stove door of the instant invention represents an improvement from a manufacturing standpoint as well as from a consumer standpoint.
Accordingly, it is an object of the instant invention to provide a stove door with interchangeable opaque and transparent panels.
It is another object of the instant invention to provide a stove door which is adaptable for various applications.
It is a still further object of the instant invention to provide a universally adaptable stove door to provide increased manufacturing efficiency.
Another object is the provision of novel and unique means for easily and effectively mounting the interchangeable panels on the stove door.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention shall become apparent as the description thereof proceeds when considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawing.